Dancing in the Muddy Temple: A Moving Spirituality of Land and Body (Studies in Body and Religion)

Drawing from nature experience, dance, anthropology, and shamanism, Dr. Eline Kieft explores improvised movement as a pathway to insight, healing, transformation, and direct interaction with source. Dancing in the Muddy Temple takes the reader on a journey through multiple layers of embodied spirituality based in movement and embedded in the land. Addressing existential questions outside of mainstream religions, the book seeks possibilities for a spirituality that dances with the sacred life force within and all around us. Starting within the body, and always using movement as a way of knowing, Kieft expands on further concrete and subtle layers of connection. A sensorial immersion in the land develops into an expansion of consciousness and meeting intangible aspects of nature. After exploring the role of ceremony in contemporary times, the book concludes with an unexpected chapter on healing, drawing together insights for a dynamic approach to health and wholeness as innate part of an embodied spirituality. Moving seamlessly between her personal, professional, and academic background, Kieft creates an unusual scholarship in which bodily and autobiographical narrative are neatly interwoven with interdisciplinary literature. Its uniqueness lies in a radical integration of theory and practice, which brings an aliveness to the material that stirs an inquisitive desire to move, rooted in language that inspires confidence for personal inquiry into a rich and complex territory. This inspiring book offers an intricate road map to explore and strengthen the interwovenness of various layers of self, surroundings and the sacred, distilling tools for a practical, moving spirituality of the everyday. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Gratitudes Prelude Notes I use the word ‘sacred’ to refer to all things that are in alignment with that ‘mysterious’ force and the natural laws of life, and which need to be respected and protected. Sacred to me is synonym with numinous, holy and divine. Opening Reflexivity and the Dancing Scholar Writing about Dance Writing about Spirituality Map for the Book Notes Chapter 1: Existential Questions Hearing a Murmur Culture as a River Currents of Alternative Spirituality Critique on Postmodern Spirituality Nature-based Spiritualities and (Neo-) Shamanism West European Indigenous Knowledge Notes Chapter 2: The Spirit of the Dance WELL of Inspiration Many Dances Sacred and Conscious Expressions A Moving Spirituality Mobile Connections Emotionally Evocative Fluid Consciousness Direct Action Notes Chapter 3: Body and Embodiment Becoming (Un)Divided The Multi-Layered Body Expressions of Embodiment Interoceptive Awareness Alignment of Body, Heart, Mind Soulful Presence Weaving Interconnection Re-Anointing the Body Notes Chapter 4: Movement as a Way of Knowing Lines and Circles Expanding Cognition Embodied Intelligence Improvisation as a Technique Exploration Prompts Notes Chapter 5: Immersion in the Land Nature, My Lover of Lifetimes Body ∞ Environment We Are Nature Reconnecting with the Natural World Immersive Practices And of Course, We Dance . . . Qualities of the Land Mimicking Notes Chapter 6: Expanded Consciousness Into the Stone Consciousness beyond the Skin Information Fields Participation Consciousness Changing the Frequency A Safe Container Expanded Consciousness, Trance and Embodied Ecstasy A Collective Pathway Notes Chapter 7: Encountering the Spirits Snake Trails Essence Sparks Levels of Communion Spirit Etiquette Dancing With Dancing As Being Danced Across Time Notes Chapter 8: The Cauldron of Ceremony Dreaming with the Ancestors Ritual and Ceremony Maps of Sacred Space Preparation Into the Unknown Return and Integration Meaning and Efficacy of Contemporary Reinventions Notes Chapter 9: Towards Wholeness East Wind Health as a Process Life Force and Soul Essence Medicine and the Golden Shadow Four Healer Archetypes Orientations for Dynamic Well-Being Notes Closing The Journey Towards Sustainable and Empowering Narratives Circular Inclusivity Life, Death and Rebirth Sacred Sexuality The Role of Community Widening Horizons Notes Appendix Acknowledge Activate Release Retrieve CULTIVATE CELEBRATE Notes Bibliography Index About the Author Relevant Publications "In this book, Eline Kieft creates an embodied spirituality that is based in improvised movement and embedded in the land. Weaving between theory and practice, this innovative work explores fundamental interconnections between self, surroundings, and the sacred"-- Provided by publisher